Kirby Smart shares his halftime message to team in Georgia win vs. Mississippi State

No. 1 ranked Georgia protected their undefeated record on the road this weekend defeating Mississippi State 45-19. The final score shows a dominant day for the Bulldogs, but that was not the case in the first half, as they were up by just five points heading into the locker room after the second quarter. Head coach Kirby Smart shared what his message was with the team at halftime after an uncharacteristic slow start for this squad.

“I just told them I was disappointed in the way that we had handled some things, that we had really played well defensively and given up one play, and we needed a spark,” Smart said.

Georgia’s defense kept Mississippi State out of the end zone for the entire first half, until giving up a touchdown seconds before the end of the half on a 63-yard punt return by wide receiver Zavion Thomas. Mississippi State definitely entered the half with all of the momentum at home, but Smart challenged his team to steal it back on their first drive of the second half.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“And it was the first time we were gonna have the ball starting out the second half it seemed like in forever, and we needed to go out and make a statement,” Smart said.

UGA did just that, scoring a touchdown on their second play of the second half on an end-around play to Ladd McConkey that he took 70 yards to the house.

“The first run went for four or five yards, I thought we mashed them, and then the next play we hit the big one and that kind of got out energy back where it needed to go,” Smart said.

The Bulldogs never looked back after setting the tone in the second half, outscoring Mississippi State 28-7 in the second half in a dominant performance. McConkey had a stellar all-purpose day, ending the night with 141 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in the air and on the ground.

Georgia’s win Saturday secured them a spot in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on December 3, in a game that will likely look more like a home game for the Bulldogs than a neutral sight. They’ll face the LSU Tigers who also took care of business this weekend and punched their ticket to the conference championship as well, and hopefully for Smart’s Bulldogs, they can finish the season strong the same way they finished Saturday’s game.